Drawer support for articles of furniture



Oct. 9, 1928.

C. F. WOLTERS DRAWER SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 1C5, 1926 INVIZNTOR. 716M BY I W .c/W ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 9, 1928. R 1,686,783

c. F. WOLTERS DRAWER SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE Filed Jan- 13, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 v I 6 j 7 I j v :5 I 11 is 9. 3 I, a 5 =2;

ii 3 :5 7 w INVENTOR.

A TTORNLYS.

Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

1,686,783 PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES CARL F. WOLTERS, OF MARIETTA, OHIO,

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

REMINGTON RAND INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

DRAWER SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES 01: FURNITURE.

Application filed January 13, 1926. Serial No. 80,863.

This invention has reference to drawer supports for various articles of furniture and, particularly, relates to supporting and actuating means for drawers of metal furniture.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide features of construction by which compensation may be had for uneven wear of certain of the parts, for variations inherent in the materials used, and for variations in certain of the parts resulting from strains or stress imposed upon the parts during the shifting movements thereof in use; to provide means whereby the drawer and its supporting members are prevented from tilting during use; and to provide a structure by which maintenance of traction, between the relatively movable parts, is insured so as to enable the supporting or floating member to be driven without slippage or loss, and to insure the proper proportional shifting thereof for carrying purposes.

WVith the above objects in View and others which will be detailed during the course of this description, my invention consists in the parts, features, elements and combinations thereof hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in sectional elevation of a portion of a casing showing a shiftable drawer and the supporting and driving means thereof, the parts being in closed position;

Figure 2 is a View similar to Figure 1, showing the parts in open position;

Figure 3 is a View showing the parts in section substantially on the line 33 of Figure 5, the view including a conventional showing of a portion of a drawer;

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the supporting and driving means; and

Figure 5 is a View showing the interaction of the parts of my compensating mechanism, the view being enlarged, and a section only of the parts being shown.

Referring to the drawings and, first, to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 1 indicates the casing of any piece of furniture provided with a sliding drawer 2, the side or body portion of which is indicated at 3. The drawer 2 slides into and out of the casing on a supporting structure shown in detail in Figures 3, 4 and 5. The supporting structure is composed of three principal members, the member 4 being secured to the casing, the member 5 being mounted to slide in and relatively to the member 4, and the member 6 being secured to the drawer and operating as the driving means for actuating the member 5 The member 4, at its upper edge, is overturned at 7 and rebent to provide a depending flange 8, and at its bottom is provided with an extensive, horizontal supporting member 9 terminating at its outer edge in an upturned flange 10. The floating member 5 is provided, at its upper edge, with a horizontal flange 11 adapted to slide within the groove formed by the portions 7 and 8 of the casing member. At its lower edge, the floating member 5 is provided with an extensive, horizontal portion 12 terminating in an upturned flange 13 in parallelism with the flange 10 of the casing member. Thus, the floating member slides in or on and relatively to the casing member. The drawer member 6 is provided at top and bottom with an angular flange 14, the extreme edges of the said flanges being extended parallel with the web or body portion of the member, thus producing horizontal traction portions. The vertical member of the upper flange 14 interacts with the horizontal flange 11, of the floating member 5, and the depending flange 8 of the casing member cooperates with the horizontal portion of the said upper flange of the drawer member 6. The lower portion of the lower flange of the drawer member enters between the outer ends of anti frictional rolls 15 and 19 and the web portion of the floating member 5, while said rolls, at their inner ends, engage the horizontal portion of the lower flange of the floating member 5. The rolls 15 are journaled in the body portion of the floating member 5 and the vertical flange 13 thereof, and. extend partially through apertures 16 in the horizontal portion 12 of the floating member, so as to travel on the upper surface of the horizontal portion 9 of the casing member.

At its extreme inner end, near its upper edge, the floating member 5 is provided with a ball-bearing, anti-frictional roll 17 journaled thereon and the circumference of which projects through an opening formed in flange 11 and bears against the under side of the horizontal portion 7 of the flange of the casing member. A similar ball-bearing,

anti-frictional roll 18 is journaled in the web portion of the floating member 5 approximately midway between the top and bottom flanges and approximately midway between the ends of said floating member. This anti-frictional roll 18 is adapted to engage the inner surface of the horizontal portion of the angular flange at the bottom of the drawer member 6, the outer surface of said horizontal portion of said flange being adapted to ride upon the circumference of an anti-frictional roll 19, located directly below the roll 18, and journaled in a bifurcated carriage 20, journaled at its rear end at 21 in the flange 13 and web portion of the floating member 5 approximately midway between the ends of said member. The roll 19 extends through an aperture 22 in the horizontal portion 12 of the floating member 5, and contacts with the upper surface of the horizontal portion 9 of the casing member 4. Thus, the roll 19 may have a vibratory action or movement relatively to the interacting members 4, 5 and 6, so as to cause compensation for variations, or inherent unevenness, in the portions of the casing member and drawer member with which the roll is adapted to engage. This action avoids binding and undue friction between the several parts which otherwise would occur, as the result of stress and strain upon the several members, variations in the thickness of the latter, or inherent defects in the latter, during the interaction of the several members. Moreover, the compensating roll 19, interacting with the rolls 18, 17 and 15 maintains the parts or members in their proper relative position and prevents the drawer and floating member from tilting in any degree whatever during shifting movements on and relatively to the casing member. I desire to lay stress upon the interaction of the parts and the arrangement and relation of the features of said parts, as described, which enable the floating and drawer members to shift relatively to the casing member to prevent binding between the several parts of the drawer supporting mechanism, and also to prevent the drawer and floating members from tilting at any time. This will be better understood from the description of the mode of operation as follows:

The floating member 5 is caused to run smoothly on the casing member 4, by reason of the rolls 15 and 19 and the roll 17, the latter also operating to hold the floating member from tilting when shifted to its outward extreme on the casing member. The drawer 3 and drawer member 6 run smoothly relatively to the casing and float ing members by reason of their bearing on the rolls 15 and 19; and the roll 18, carried by the floating member 5, holds the member 6 from rising relatively to the latter, and

also holds the member 6 and drawer 3 from tilting when shifted to the outward extreme on the floating member 5. When the drawer is shifted, friction between the same, its member 6 and the rolls 15, 18 and 19, causes the floating member to travel or shift in the same direction but at only half the speed of the drawer. Thus, when the drawer reaches its outward extreme on the floating member, the latter reaches its outward extreme on the casing member, the drawer, however, having traveled twice as far as, and at twice the speed of, the floating member. In such extreme positions of the drawer and floating member, neither can tilt because of the cooperative arrangement of the several rolls as described. Variations of the surfaces of the parts, as described, are compensated for by the pivotally mounted roll 19, such action being indicated by the dotted lines, Figure 5.

The numeral 23 indicates a latch pivotally mounted on the floating member, the forward end of which operates through an aperture 24 in the horizontal portion 12 of said member and automatically drops into an aperture 25 in the horizontal portion 9 of the casing member, for the purpose of checking the movement of said floating member when the latter reaches its outward extreme on the easing member, which occurs just before the roll 19 reaches the end of the casing member. A latch 26 may also be provided on the drawer member 6, at its inner end, pivotally mounted at 27 and normally at rest on the inner surface of the horizontal portion of the lower flange 14 of the member 6, so that it may engage with a stop 28 on the floating member to check the outward movement of the drawer and prevent it from being entirely withdrawn from the casing at its extreme of outward movement. The latch 26 may be lifted by entering the finger through opening 30 in the floating member. It can then be passed over the stop 28 and the drawer entirely withdrawn from the easing. The inner face of the stop 28 is provided with a cushion 29 to eliminate jar and noise.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A drawer support having, in combination, a casing member, a carrying member entirely supported by said casing member, a drawer member entirely supported by said carrying member, and means between the casing and carrying members adapted to compensate for variations in the casing member, including an anti-frictional roll pivotally mounted to swing about a bearing spaced from the axis of the roll and on both the casing and drawer members.

2. A drawer support having, in combination, a casing member, a carrying member entirely supported by said casing member, a drawer member entirely supported by said carrying member, and means between the casing and carrying members adapted to compensate for variations in the casing member, including a roll journalled in a pivotally mounted carriage, said roll engaging both the casing and drawer member.

3. A drawer support having, in combination, a casing member, a carrying member entirely supported by said casing member, a drawer member entirely supported by said carrying member, and means between the casing and carrying members adapted to compensate for variations in the casing member, including a roll mounted on the carrying member for movement laterally to the direction of movement of said member and a cooperative, rigidly mounted roll on the carrying member.

4. A drawer support, having in combination, a casing member, a carrying member entirely supported by said casing member, a drawer member entirely supported by said carrying member, and means between the casing and carrying members engaging the drawer member adapted to compensate for variations in said members, including a roll fixed on said carrying member, and a roll connected to said carrying member between said fixed roll and the casing member and movable laterally relatively to the carrying member.

5. A drawer support, having in combination, a casing member, a carrying member entirely supported by said casing member, a drawer member entirely supported by said carrying member, and means between the casing and carrying members engaging the drawer member adapted to compensate for variations in said members, including a pair of rolls mounted in opposed relation on said carrying member cooperating with the drawer member and easing member to permit lateral movement of the carrying member relative to the drawer member.

Signed by me at Marietta this 5th day of January, 1926.

CARL F. WOLTERS. 

